Welcome Back To The Outside World
by garden-nomes
Summary: AU, set five years post Fire. Effy has done her time, and is met by an old friend on her release. Rated M for language/themes.


**A/N: I'm not a member over at fanforum, but while lurking around the posts over there today, someone posted the idea that someone should write a fic where Katie kicks Effy's arse, and I could actually picture it enough in my head to write it. Not really one for the Keffy shippers out here, but perhaps a little catharsis for all us heartbroken Naomily fans? I don't know. I've spent all afternoon on this in between tears of depression and rage at having my only favourite tv lesbian couple dealt with like that. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own skins, if I did, I'd never have let it end that way.**

* * *

The key slid into the lock, and the barred door slid slowly open. The sunlight made her squint slightly, her ocean blue eyes adjusting to the light.

"Alright, miss. This is it. Take care there, in the outside world."

"Right." she said, her expression as blank as she stood up. She grabbed her bag of minimal possessions and walked out the door of the prison, back into the outside world, as the guard had called it.

It had been five years since she had been convicted, and sentenced to at least seven years inside for what she had done. She kept herself out of trouble, and was being paroled early. But it didn't seem to make a difference, not when life was so much different to how it was before she had gone inside.

Everything she had known had changed, and not for the better. Her clean criminal record now gone, as well as her best friend. And she'd had a long and hard time to think about the consequences of her actions. She knew she deserved the hatred that had come to her, and even a lifetime in prison couldn't make the sting of that any less painful.

"Effy."

The voice startled her, causing her to halt in her tracks. It was a voice she'd not heard in years, a voice she could never mistake for anyone else, and a voice she never in her life expected to hear again. She looked into a face that was almost identical to its twin, but Effy knew the differences.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. As far as she knew, Anthea was coming to pick her up.

"Someone had to come and pick you up." came the reply. "Get in, bitch." It was short, almost sharp, the way it had been said, but of course, it was softened somewhat by the ever present lisp of Katie Fitch, who was now getting into the driver's seat. Effy walked to the car, and hesitated at the passenger side door, unsure of whether she should get in.

"Well? I haven't got all fucking day, yeah?"

Effy opened the door and get into the passenger seat, as Katie turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the car park. Silence fell between them as Katie turned onto the motorway.

"I... Thought mum was coming." Effy said, quietly.

"Something came up that she couldn't get out of, but she'll be there to meet you at home." Katie replied back, her tone even. Effy couldn't help but feel uneasy. "So, how have you been?"

"Fine." Effy replied, wondering if Katie was joking with her question. "You?"

"Yeah, good. I've been working as a PA at a fashion magazine. Well classy."

Effy nodded. It was good to see that Katie was still the same Katie that she remembered from the last time she had seen her, which had been when the elder Fitch had been finishing up her degree in business and fashion.

The rest of the journey to Bristol was mostly silent, with small talk thrown in here and there. Because the only relative she had was Anthea, Effy had been released on condition that she stay with her, as well as reporting to a parole officer weekly. But it had been years since she had set foot back in Bristol, and it was strange to be home after all this time.

When Katie finally pulled up outside Anthea's house, Effy had long been asleep, dozing off somewhere along the last stretch of motorway. She leaned over and gently nudged Effy's shoulder. "Effy, we're here."

Effy jolted out of her sleep like a loud noise had woken her up, and grabbed Katie's wrist defensively.

"All right, all right! Calm down! We're here, yeah?" Katie said, trying to calm Effy. The blue-eyed brunette shook herself and opened up the car door, getting out. She walked to the front door of her mother's house and stood there, staring at the door. She heard the click of Katie's heels as she came to stand next to Effy. "You ok? Do you need a minute?"

Effy simply shook her head, and Katie stepped forward and opened the door, letting Effy pass. It was a surreal feeling, as Effy stepped inside her old home. A cross between feeling like she was out of place and feeling like she was in a time warp. She half expected to see her dad bollocking Tony for the bathroom door again, or to catch Anthea fucking Steve the line manager.

"Anthea! We're here." Katie shouted. Effy heard her mother indicate that she was on her way. Soon enough, her mother's arms were around her, hugging her tightly.

"Darling, it's so good to see you!" Anthea smiled.

"Hi, mum." Effy replied, hugging her back gently.

"How are you? Would you both like some tea?"

"Fine, mum. I'd really just like to go up to my room." Effy said, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

Anthea looked at her oddly for a second, before nodding. "Right. What about you, Katie?"

"Um, yeah. I've got some time."

Effy started up the stairs, as Anthea went into the kitchen.

"Hey!" Katie whispered, and Effy turned back to look at her. "You ok?"

Effy simply nodded and kept walking up the stairs, she walked to her old room and opened the door, finding it to be in much the same condition as it had been all those years ago. She sat down on the bed, dropping her bag to the floor. She shut her eyes briefly and out her head in her hands, sighing.

"I told Anthea to make you some tea, anyway." came Katie's voice from the doorway. She stood there holding two mugs, and came in, placing one on the desk and sipping from the other. "Just appreciate it, yeah?"

Which was Katie's way of saying 'drink your tea and shut the fuck up'. Again, typical Katie. "Can tell you haven't changed much." she said to the petite burgundy haired twin.

"Yeah, right." Katie said, or rather, snorted, with a hint of sadness in her tone. "We've all changed, Eff." The flatness returned to her tone.

"Yeah." Effy reached to the mug of tea on the desk and held it between her palms. The warmth of the porcelain felt good under her cold fingers. She knew Katie was right.

Katie took a long sip of her tea. "I have to ask, Eff..."

"What, whether I became a big time muff muncher like Emily while I was in prison?"

Katie froze at the mention of her sister's name. "Don't. You. Dare." she said, and Effy could feel the chill in her voice.

"Don't what?" The brunette asked.

"You have no right to mention her. Not now she's..." The words caught in Katie's throat. It was one thing to feel the pain of Emily's loss, but the loss of Emily herself was something that Katie still struggled with. She placed the half empty mug on the desk and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the wall, leopard print heels digging into the carpet."...Not now she's gone, too." she quietly finished, her eyes filled with sadness.

Effy stared long and hard at Katie. She had never seen her look so small and defeated. "You mean?" Katie looked up at her, and her eyes said what her trembling lips couldn't bring themselves to speak. "When?"

Katie took a shaky breath. "About six months after Naomi." Her voice was so empty, and Effy was numb with shock. She hadn't had any contact from Emily or Katie since she had been inside. Not even her mother had told her. Although, Emily had been so angry after finding out that Effy had kept Naomi's secret all that time, that she had told Effy their friendship was as good as over, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she hadn't been told.

"I'm so-"

"You know what? Don't even." Katie cut her off, abruptly. Effy stared at her, sensing the sharpness once more in Katie's voice. "Don't you fucking DARE tell me you are sorry that my sister is dead."

"Kati-"

"NO!" The elder Fitch yelled back. "You don't get to be sorry, Effy. How the fuck could you do that? I know Campbell was too stubborn to tell Emily, but YOU should have stepped in sooner. Or knocked some fucking common sense into Naoms. Or were you too busy shagging your boss to care that your best friend was stupidly keeping secrets again?"

Katie stared at Effy. The distressed look on her face showed how upset she was. Normally Katie was so cool, and Effy had only really seen her blow up at people when they had pissed her off. But this was different. Katie wasn't just upset, she was intensely angry at Effy, and the brunette couldn't help but realise that Katie's expression mirrored the same anger and pain that had graced Emily's features all those years ago when she slapped Effy across the cheek. That was when she had found out what Effy and Naomi had been hiding from her.

For once Effy was silent not because she was being aloof, but because she was lost for words.

"After all the things they put each other through, when they came out the other side, I really was happy for them both. I finally saw how good they were for each other, you know?" Katie laughed. "I actually admired them. For sticking it out, for staying together while Ems was in New York. And then..."

Katie paused, as the grief that for the most part lay dormant bubbled to the surface. Effy listened in shock as Katie continued. "She had to be hospitalised, after Naomi died. I helped Gina arrange the funeral. Emily was inconsolable, and barely made it through the service. About a month later she tried to..."

"Why are you telling me this?" Effy asked, her voice almost a whisper. "It doesn't bring them back."

"You stole time from them!" Katie snapped. "But then, you wouldn't know how that feels, would you? You've never had anyone mean so much to you that you would die for them. If Emily had known sooner... She might not have lost the one thing that meant everything to her."

"How do you know?"

"Because Ems would have made Naomi fight it harder." Katie said, and Effy knew that she was right. Emily had grown up so much since college, and was much more confident and determined than she had been as a teenager. Effy had no doubt that if she had known, the outcome might have been different.

"I told Naoms she had to tell Emily." Effy said.

"Yeah? Not fucking good enough, Eff. You should have called her back to London sooner."

"I... I know." Effy drank down her tea which had now gone lukewarm, placing the cup back on the bench. "I regret that I didn't."

It was the truth. There were many things Effy regretted about what she had done before going into prison. The two main ones she had were getting there in the first place, and not telling Emily sooner. Really, it was Naomi's news to tell her, but seeing as her flatmate had been too stubborn to do so, the least she could have done, as a good friend to both of them, is break the news to Emily. She hadn't come out of prison hoping that she could mend bridges with Emily, she knew that was probably impossible, but she hadn't expected that Emily would be gone and she would never get the chance to do so.

Katie had now stood up and was leaning against the wall. "Selfish." she mutters. "You're so fucking selfish, Eff. You use people, and people get hurt all around you. It's bad enough that Freddie got bludgeoned to death, but now you have Ems and Naomi on your conscience as well. How many more people have to die because of you, Effy?" She was now standing over Effy, who was leaning backwards, staring wide-eyed as Katie berated her. She didn't interrupt, because the moment took her back to the night at Gobbler's End, all those years ago. Except this time Effy wasn't tripping on mushrooms.

Katie stood there dumbfounded at the lack of response from Effy, and it only served to anger her further. The tight lid she had kept on her emotions thus far became unstuck, and before Effy knew it, Katie had slapped her hard across the face. Effy stared at Katie, a smirk forming on her lips.

"Well, at least now I know which Fitch twin hits harder." Effy said, sarcasm lacing her voice.

Before she knew it, Katie had pushed her backwards onto the bed and was on top of her, slapping her senseless. "FUCK YOU! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE FUCKING DONE?!" Effy tried to fight her off, but Katie was too strong for her. "Emily lost Naomi because you waited too fucking long to tell her." Katie had grabbed Effy by the collar. "And I lost my SISTER because the grief of her loss became too much for her. They were supposed to live happily ever after! Do you know how cruel it is that they lost that?"

Katie finally lost the last shred of temper that she was hanging onto, and all Effy felt was the sledgehammer thump of pain as Katie's right hook made contact with her face. Effy felt the warmth of her blood as it leaked from her nose.

Katie shoved Effy and then stood up. "You can pretty much fuck off. I did this as a favour to Anthea, but if I EVER see you again, I'll fucking kill you. You can rot, for all I care." Katie said. "ARE WE CLEAR?"

"What is going on up here?" Anthea said, as she stood in the doorway. She took one look at Effy, and one look back at Katie.

"Katie was just leaving." Effy said, coldly, her blue eyes looking icier than Katie had ever seen them. She was wiping her nose with her sleeve, the blood soaking through the fabric.

"Yeah." Katie added. "Lovely to see you again, Anthea." Katie said, as she walked out of the room and down the stairs. Effy heard the front door open and close behind her.

"Effy? Darling, what's going on?" Anthea asked, puzzled at the sight of her daughter, and what she had heard.

"I think Katie just got her revenge." Effy said.

"What for?"

Effy hesitated. "Emily."

Anthea felt a chill run through her, and tried to give Effy a look that passed for sympathy.

"And you didn't tell me." Effy looked her mother square in the eyes.

"I... Didn't know how to, love."

"Three simple words, mum. 'Emily is dead.' See?" Effy shrugged.

"Eff..."

Effy waved her off. "Forget it. I think Katie broke my nose."

"Oh. Well, hospital then, I suppose. Come on."

Anthea helped Effy up and led her down the stairs, picking up her keys on their way out the door.

* * *

**Reviews welcome. :)**


End file.
